Babbling twins video goes viral

Millions of people have watched a two-minute YouTube video of twin baby boys babbling up a storm.

The diaper-wearing boys are standing in the family kitchen next to the refrigerator where they’re conversing in baby-talk language. The 18-month-old fraternal twins named Sam and Ren are animated and engaged. They listen to one another intently. Everyone wants to know, What are they saying?

Are they discussing how to clean finger prints off a stainless-steel refrigerator? Are they talking about what they want for lunch? Or maybe they’re debating politics?

Experts are jumping into the discussion and they’re saying the twins aren’t actually having a conversation. Rather they’re mimicking each other’s babbling.

“Some people believe twins have the ability to generate their own detailed language, a twin language, but it doesn’t seem to be true in terms of a fully developed language system,” Stephen Camarata, professor of hearing and speech sciences at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine told the NY Times. “They are going back and forth and enjoying each other’s company, but they aren’t saying anything specific like ‘Hey, Mom’s videotaping us. Look at her hair.’”

“The thing that is remarkable is that they both have this intonation pattern,” Camarata adds. “It sounds like they are speaking, making a statement, asking a question. They are using those broader markers we use in language.”

The mother behind the blog Twin Mama Rama posted the video of her sons on YouTube in February. The video has been viewed more than 12 million times.